Buybacks come to the aid of S&P 500 stocks again

Companies in the S&P 500 Index that repurchase the most stock are back in favor. The S&P 500 Buyback Index climbed 16 percent from a low on Dec. 24 through last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The gauge beat the S&P 500 by three percentage points after trailing almost as much in the previous rally, from February through September. S&P 500 companies are poised to repurchase about $800 billion of shares this year, Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s head of U.S. equity strategy, wrote Friday in a report. Profit growth and lower stock valuations will spur buybacks, he wrote.